Townhall reports that at least 16 unaccompanied illegal minors under the age of 18 are members of the brutal El Salvadorian street gang Mara Salvatrucha—or MS-13. Gang graffiti has been found on the walls of the Nogales Border Patrol processing center, which suggests ties to the organization.

Clearly, those who have been caught by the Border Patrol probably don’t have the highly visible gang tattoos which make identification so much easier. The members identified at Nogales included 13 El Salvadoran males, two Guatemalan males and one Honduran male, who have readily admitted to their gang associations.

MS-13 is “one of the foremost players in [El Salvador’s] thriving human-trafficking industry,”according to InsightCrime, says Investors. The U.S. Southern Command estimates the gang—originally formed in Los Angeles during the Civil War in El Salvador in the 1980s, numbers around 70,000.

Aside from border trafficking, which is highly profitable at $7,000 per victim, they are involved in assaults, homicides and torture using firearms, machetes or blunt objects. Much of the violence in our cities is committed by Mara Salvatrucha. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. Members are usually over age 11, but under 21.

“Ground zero,” according to Investors, “is El Salvador, which has shipped as much as a third of its population to the U.S. and relies on their remittances for 16% of the nations GDP.” No wonder they are not helpful when we ask for their assistance in keeping their own kids at home.

It has been reported that these MS-13 members, are being held for placement inside the United States. They may be engaged in violent cartel and criminal activity, yet when processed by the Department of Human Services or Department of Homeland Security systems, they are treated as children. Which they are, but not quite what we usually think of as “children.”

But this is a “humanitarian crisis.” They are just kids. Where is your compassion?